Do you understand the language of plants?
The plants are able to send messages even though they cannot speak, including information about resources required for growth and distress signals.
In turn, they communicate by altering leaf color and shape, silently.
Keeping an eye on signs like these will help you catch minor problems before they cause major problems, leading to the best production from your garden.
No, your plant is unable to speak but does not mean that it is not communicating with you.
What Your Plant Leaves are Trying to Tell You!
Your plant’s leaves can tell you a lot about its health and current status. Check out these signs your plant is telling you through its foliage if you have one.
Brown and Crunchy Leaves
The plant is: Thirsty.
Get the soil moist but not saturated with water to give greenery a new lease on life. According to Liza Wheeler, plant expert and blogger at Good to Grow, there can be a delay between when a problem occurs and when leaves reveal themselves; however, that doesn’t mean it is not possible to fix the problem.
When the leaves of your plant have turned brown, along with becoming tough and almost crunchy, the plant is telling you that it needs more moisture.
Dehydration in plants occurs if they do not receive enough humidity. This causes a lack of water to spread throughout their system. A crunchy exterior will result from the leaves losing their natural coloration and dying, resulting in the lack of color.
This can be resolved by increasing the level of humidity applied to your plant through the use of a humidity tray or a humidifier, and decreasing the amount of time between watering sessions.
No Sign of Growing
The plant is: Thirsty.
The plant can not produce new growth if it is underwatered. “If your plant has not changed much since you bought it, then it may need more water,” Wheeler says.
It is not being watered or fertilized well enough. If your plant’s leaves are growing very slowly or not at all, then it has not been properly watered or fertilized.
Water and fertilizer must be given in the proper amounts to a plant to promote growth, but if the plant has not yet produced buds, the buds will take a much longer time to grow, if they even grow at all.
When a plant produces buds that sprout into leaves but is under-watered or under-fed, the growth rate may slow down or stagnate altogether. In either case, the plant is conserving water and nutrients by withholding growth while conserving water and nutrients to support the plant’s survival.
Yellow Edges
The plant is: Overwatered.
According to Tovah Martin, gardening expert and author of The Indestructible Houseplant , the sudden ombre look is caused by overwatering. “Water often, but do not let your plants go completely without water,” she advises.
Plants with discoloration are not receiving enough water, which may be a result of the plant getting too much water or not being able to absorb it.
Plant owners can cause this problem by watering certain plants from the top instead of from the bottom. By watering with the bottom of the pot, you are allowing water to enter the roots. Make sure the pot always has drainage holes!
Yellow Leaves and Nutrient Deficiencies
It may seem perplexing to ask why your plant’s leaves are yellow. Call it chlorosis in the scientific world. Its causes range from undernourishment to insect damage.
It takes 16 different micronutrients for healthy development in plants. But if they don’t get them, or if the ratios are imbalanced, leaves may start looking strange, become increasingly disease-prone, or even cease growing, reducing yields.
Symptoms of Plant Nutrient Deficiencies
In order to address a deficiency, you must be able to identify the nutrient a plant needs. The following signs may indicate that the plant is lacking important nutrients:
Lack of Boron causes young leaves to turn light green and be disfigured.
Calcium deficiency causes disfigured leaves and may cause symptoms of necrosis (death of plant tissue).
Leaves lacking copper may appear limp and/or curled.
A deficiency of iron produces new leaves that are yellow between the veins while remaining green (a process known as interveinal chlorosis).
With an insufficient amount of magnesium, leaves can show spotting and yellowing between the veins. The outside of the leaf may curl.
Lack of manganese causes younger leaves to yellow (giving them a “net-like” appearance) and to develop dead spots.
With inadequate amounts of Molybdenum, older leaves may become yellow. Leaves that remain will also turn light green, which may cause the leaves to become distorted and narrow.
During a state of nitrogen deficiency, the older leaves and veins of the plants turn a pale yellow hue. Other leaves become light green, and they are often smaller than normal.
Plants lacking Phosphorus will grow stunted and take on a dark purple color (almost black for some plants). Leaf tips may look burnt.
Potassium deficiency causes older lower leaves to have marginal necrosis, even getting scorched on the edges. Leaves also appear yellowing on the edges and between veins.
A lack of sulfur causes the young leaves to yellow and the veins of the leaves to lighten with older leaves remaining green.
Zinc deficiencies can cause New leaves to turn yellow or produce necrosis between veins.
How to Fix Nutrient Deficiencies
By giving your plants the nutrients they need, you can avoid deficiencies in the first place. The use of fertilizers, rich compost and various amendments is essential for soil-based gardeners.
Providing all the essentials is not sufficient if pH levels are too high or too low. Plants access nutrients best when pH levels are around 6.5. So measure your levels every few weeks and adjust as needed.
Discoloration and Deformity
The plant is: Overwatered.
Plant leaves with discolored or misshapen edges are often a sign that they are being given too much water.
The most common cause of houseplant deaths is overwatering, Wheeler says. There’s no need to be heavy-handed with the watering can either. It is a good idea to double check the drainage system in your plant pots. If a repurposed vase does not have holes in the bottom, too much water might be locked up inside.
Too much moisture in a plant’s root system can cause them to become flooded and overwhelmed with moisture. A result of this is a plant that does not grow correctly, discolored leaves, and twisted leaves.
During these times, you will have to give your plant less water, or increase the interval between watering sessions.
Pale Leaves
The plant is: Hungry.
Perhaps the gardenia (like this one) needs more iron if its leaves start to look pale. “You should probably fertilize more frequently,” Martin says. If you notice paleness, you may also want to move the plant to a larger container. But be sure to do the transition slowly, by increasing the pot size two inches each time.
When the leaves on your plant appear paler than normal, this is an indication that more nutrients are needed. Nutrition-deficient plants will have fewer patterns and colors than healthy ones, so their leaves look less vibrant. Occasionally the same paleness occurs in flowers in flowering plants as well.
Besides carbon and oxygen, plants need hydrogen and nitrogen as well, which they can get from air and water. They can also get potassium from regular fertilizing.
Keep in mind to use the correct amount of fertilizer based on the guidelines and the specific type of plant you are growing. The key is to use enough fertilizer to give the plant enough nutrients without overwhelming it.
Drooping Leaves
The plant is: Dying for some sunlight.
As sun-loving plants go dark in places with little natural light, Martin recommends putting them in a sunny window as soon as possible. Maybe it’s time to give the sun-starved plant to an understanding friend if you’ve been cursed with a lack of a view.
Closing
Knowing what’s up with your garden and how to decipher its secret language should make analyzing and fixing a problem a little easier.